Beijing - Faction Design: The Knights of Earth
By Jeremy Totten - 1804685 The Knights of Earth, more commonly referred to as simply "The Knights", are the governing faction of the city of Beijing. While they may not be as large as their opposing faction, The Mystics, they are much more organized and powerful. As a more authoritarian type of government, they seek to limit the people's access to magic and knowledge, as they believe this would lead to a more peaceful and stabilized society. The Knights are very strict about who they let in and out of the safe zone of the inner city, very concerned about the countless monsters that terrorize the outside world. Hierarchy The Knights are ruled by the leader of Beijing with an iron fist. While they believe in limited use of magic, their leader supplies them with a specific amount they are allowed to use for certain situations through the usage of magic technology (i.e. weapons infused with magic bullets or magic-enhanced armor), such as forcing citizens to comply by their demands and dealing with monsters that may break into the city. As well as having a general leader, there are also three commanders that serve under the leader in order to maintain watch over certain parts of the faction. These commanders have more magic than the ordinary grunts or soldiers that serve the Knights, but their magic use is still limited as is the norm among the members of the faction. Internet Usage Throughout the world, Internet is a precious resource to those who have it. Climate change caused sea levels to rise drastically over the course of the 21st century, causing cables on the coastline to be flooded and destroyed, limiting Internet usage in some parts of the world and flat out ending it in others. As such, the city of Beijing sees Internet usage as a valuable currency of sorts, controlled by the Knights of Earth and distributed in exchange for goods and services. As much as the Knights value the Internet for its endless knowledge, the use of it is still limited to a point, as they seek to control what people can and cannot see while accessing it. Their reason for doing this is claimed to be for the good of the city, as their leader believes strongly that unfiltered Internet access would lead to people learning more about their enchanted powers and seeking to overthrow the government with said knowledge. Player Interaction The player character is summoned by the Knights of Earth for his or her ability to slay several monsters outside of the city and asked to join the Knights as a sort of temporary servant, doing odd jobs for them and eventually being granted more access to magic and Internet usage, soon learning more about the inner workings of the faction. They soon figure out exactly how the leader was able to gain control of the city so quickly, as he contains a magical power so monstrous it could destroy the city in an instant if the leader so chose to do so.